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Wednesday, October 31, 2018

No one else is going to write this post for me. It is up to me to share a story consisting of only six sentences. Why would I want to do this, you may ask. Well, Denise Farley of Girlie on the Edge's Blog has opened the link so blog hop bloggers can join in with their weekly six sentence creations. Click Six Sentences Stories - Up to see the other stories.

A decision would have to be made soon, but she had so many questions, some of which seemed to have no answers up to now.

While some people grew impatient with her inquiries and need to know the details, she continued to doggedly seek a final conclusion.

It appeared to her that nothing had prepared her for this kind of challenge.

She knew that fear of failure was most likely one of the deficits of her character, but there was just a desire to do something in the best way possible.

Even considering that superlative, it opened many doors of thought, i.e. most economic, entertaining, enjoyable to all,physically possible, you name it.

She knew from past experience that after a good night’s rest, praying about the situation, and being patient with herself and others, the answer would come. . .sometime, hopefully soon.

Saturday, October 27, 2018

It is that time to reflect and to write about being thankful, not just because in another month it will be Thanksgiving, but because every Friday the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop link opens and until Tuesday bloggers can express gratitude. Kristi Brierley of Thankful Me is currently our host who reminds us that it is time and encourages us to participate.

1. Good news from my family and something to anticipate. There is nothing more to share about that now, but you will no doubt read more in the future.2. An increase of registered voters. To read that more people are wanting to participate in the election process and are will to consider and study the measures and the background and experience of the candidates is encouraging.3. The boxelder bugs are nearly nonexistent at our place after a week of sweeping the walkway morning and evening where they fell to their death. One less chore to do.

Dead boxelder bugs

4. Signs that more rain is coming. We had a day or two of light sprinkles, but when I saw this little banana slug near our house one morning I figured he was our new weatherman. During wet weather we might see a few, but rarely beside our house. The next couple days after seeing him, we had rain, not just sprinkles.

3-1/2" banana slug

5. Plenty of wood pellets so we could start the stove one morning this week. We had stocked up last spring, so we were ready for that one cooler day.

6. Help from a dietitian trying to figure out what type of foods I should be eating the next 10 months. Normally I would just resort to the Internet to help me out, but the doctor had encouraged me to meet with the dietitian. I did try googling, but soon realized there was more I needed to know before assuming what recipes and foods were going to work for me. She was able to show me the SIBO test results and clarify what I would need to do. What one can eat following a positive result with this test varies from person to person. Now I am able to find recipes that I can modify to meet my requirements. My breakfast this morning was an omelet (pictured below), half of a banana and a very small clementine orange.

7. New wall hanging. On our trip to the national parks recently we took a plethora of photos. My husband had one of his printed so we could replace a large photo of a praying mantis on a rose that had previously hung in that spot. I like that when we decide to use the tread mill we can gaze upon this beautiful scene. Let's see, praying mantis or Bryce Canyon. . .

Bryce Canyon National Park

8. Waking up to a phrase in the middle of the night. There was a day when I had a lot of concerns on my mind. Out of a sound sleep that night, I awoke with the phrase "strength beyond my own" running through my head. I thought that rather strange, but I have learned from some past experiences that it is good for me to pay attention to these occurrences because there may be a message there for me. Because phrases from music have helped and encouraged me and sometimes come into my mind, I got up and tried to locate the source. After locating a song by that title, I listened to it several times before returning to bed. The message was very comforting to me. I may have heard this sometime in the past, but it wasn't a piece I knew or remembered having heard.

9. People who helped a musician with Alzheimer's make sure his music was retained for posterity. He had composed music over the years, but it was all in his head. What a kind gesture!

10. Messages from plants. I love the message of this peace plant that I found almost hidden from sight this morning. Sometimes with plants and with people, one needs to look deeply to discover the all their hidden talents and the beauty they have to share with the world.

Friday, October 26, 2018

She who hesitates as to which way to go with a prompt, isn't the first to post to a blog hop link. Such is my situation this time around for responding to the cue given by Denise Farley of Girlie on the Edge's Blog for the Six Sentence Stories - Classics blog hop. Be sure to click the link after reading my post to read some more posts on this subject.

The sound emanating from the speakers in the car wasn´t what one might have expected to be the choice of some teens while riding in a vehicle with their mother, but she didn't complain about this piece from one of the classics played by many high school orchestras.

Music was a part of their lives, theirs and hers.

She was enjoying the drive, having taken the old highway with the slower speed limits instead of the freeway on this sunny day.

While some moms struggled with how their children squabbled and fought over the least little thing whenthey were experiencing an inward bout with their hormones, she was thankful that didn´t seen to be the case most of the time in her own family.

The communication between them was amicable while she was lost in thought enjoying the quickening beat of the music.

It wasn´t until her son said loudly, with great surprise, ¨Mom, you´respeeding!¨ that she realized how her foot on the accelerator had been responding.

This is a catch up post for my past few weeks of absence here on this site. First there was a trip, then just some time away from social media. Both were good healthy adventures and experiments in so many ways. That being said, I have missed my interactions with my fellow blogging friends.I am linking this post up to the Ten Things of Thankful blog up hosted by Kristi Brierley of Thankful Me. She has motivated me in many positive ways over the years, including encouraging me to participate in this blog hop.

1. Travel adventures. We had only seen some of the scenic areas in the Utah in the past, so we drove to Utah and from there spent a wonderful week with our daughter and son-in-law seeing four national parks in four days and tacked on seeing a state park at the end of the trip.

Bryce Canyon National Park

2. Watching General Conference. Each year there are two General Conferences held in Salt Lake City by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where the Prophet and other leaders share inspired messages which give direction and counsel to all who listen. It is broadcast via satellite throughout the world and translated into many languages, a fascinating feat within itself. When I became a member it was only possible to listen to the audio transmission of conference at one of the chapels in the area where I lived.

3. Improvement using electronic devices. During our trip, thanks to our daughter, I was able to get some help getting up to speed using my iPhone. This is much faster than reading through the online manual or just experimenting.

I also took some time after we got home to reorganize my desktop on the iPad, and learned to use some additional features of my Gospel Library app that allows me to make notes and put the notes into a Notebook within the app.

One day when I was using my iPad, it all of sudden was not displaying the correct keyboard symbols I'd keyed! I was beginning to think my keyboard case was going to have to be replaced. Here is where google came to my rescue. I found a forum where a few others had addressed this problem. Apparently I'd accidentally bumped two keys at the same times which caused the problem I was experiencing. This was a much easier fix with no expense involved.

4. Good results on an every-five-year's health procedure. Yeah!

5. Discovering that the new farm very near us is producing organic vegetables. While I do not eat totally organic food, I think that there are benefits to doing so.

6. Eliminating as much as possible the boxelder bug population around our home. Little did we know when we planted maple trees on our property many years ago that the trees attract boxelder bugs! These pests, more because of their numbers than actual damage to anything, are particularly annoying in the spring and in the fall when they emerge. Since maple trees are quite common in the valley here, many are plagued with the presence of these bugs. By the way, these creatures are bugs not insects. If you ever wondered what the difference is between the two, click the link.

7. Beginning the day with laughter. One day when taking apart my CPAP attachments so I could clean them, the end of the hose fell into one of those sticky spider traps I'd placed in the corner. When I pulled the hose up, the trap came too, as did the electric cord that it knocked loose which also got stuck on the trap. What a picture that was! Fortunately strength prevailed and I was able to free both from the sticky goo and get them both cleaned off thanks to one of those products made specifically for such jobs. I also found a much better place to put the trap. :-)

8. Being able to attend the temple with a friend. Since the temple is about 50 minutes away, depending on the traffic, it is a great time to visit. I enjoy these moments of conversation and reflection prior to and after the time serving in the temple.

9. A long handwritten letter from a friend and former neighbor. It had been quite a while since I'd heard from this friend, so it was a delight to read a five-page letter from her. (Not everyone is computer savvy and able to keep in touch via social media, so a handwritten letter is to be treasured.)

10. My husband. We rely on each other in so many ways. I'm thankful that is here with me, and I with him to support one another.

After a hiatus from the blogging world, I am back again. I'm starting up again with the Six Sentence Stories blog hop hosted by Denise Farley each week. Week after week bloggers participating in the blog hop link their creative endeavors to her site, Girlie on the Edge's Blog, and that is where you will be able to read their six sentence stories and make comments if you choose. I am linking my fictional post to Six Sentence Stories - Requirements.

She turned off the news and later the same day the computer, refusing to listen or read the bantering between the candidates on the news reports and the statements flying off the cuffs.

Becoming a registered voter had been important to her, but relying on anything other than the voter’s pamphlet and maybe a few flyers that came in the mail from her party of choice seem inconsequential to her.

Right will reign she thought.

Though world history classes were requirements when she was in school, somehow many of the details, if ever absorbed by her mind, had faded with time and weren’t stirring up any concerns until one week before the election.

“How can they do that!” she wondered. After scouring the internet, she found the information answering her question, but now it was too late and she wasn’t going to be able to vote this time.